Gov. Gregoire calls for immediate action to clean up Hood Canal

For Immediate Release: March 18, 2005

Gov. Christine Gregoire today said �the time has come for on-the-ground action� to halt pollution sources on the Hood Canal.

�We all should be very embarrassed that this wonderful area has been so degraded,� Gov. Gregoire said. �We are in serious danger of losing this jewel.�

The governor announced that she is including $5 million in additional funding in her 2005-2007 budget to help finance sewer and storm water projects at Belfair and Hoodsport, pay for identification of failing septic systems, provide low-interest loans for property owners to fix failing systems and grants to help clear up livestock and salmon carcass disposal problems.

Dissolved oxygen concentrations in Hood Canal are periodically reaching record low levels, creating a series of fish kills in recent years. One portion of the popular Puget Sound waterway has been described as a �dead zone� because of environmental degradation.

�Natural factors play a role in Hood Canal�s problems but so do a variety of human activities,� Gov. Gregoire said. �Up to 320 tons of nitrogen is added to the canal annually from human sources � and the major contributors are septic systems (60%), livestock manure and salmon carcass disposal (27%) and storm water runoff (11%).�

Congressman Norm Dicks joined Gov. Gregoire in calling for the cleanup.

"The governor's decisive actions demonstrate a clear commitment to solving the problems that threaten the health and vitality of Hood Canal,� Dicks said. �The state's plan represents a comprehensive approach that continues the important research that is occurring as well as the preliminary remedial efforts that are taking place through the joint efforts of federal, state and local government agencies, as well as the Skokomish Tribe.�

�We all have a stake in the success of these efforts, and I am encouraged that Governor Gregoire has established such a high priority for Hood Canal at the outset of her administration."

Gregoire outlined a two-year plan to make progress in a number of areas, including:

• Improving sewage management in the Belfair and Hoodsport areas. The Department of Ecology, Puget Sound Action Team and the Public Works Board will work with Mason County to expedite loans and technical assistance for the design of a sewage treatment facility in the Belfair area. A $1 million grant will help Mason County and the Skokomish Tribe design sewage treatment facilities to serve the Hoodsport-to-Skokomish Reservation area of the Canal.


• Identify failing septics systems: $470,000 dollars for Mason, Kitsap and Jefferson counties to identify failing septic systems and work with property owners to get these systems fixed. These funds will get people out on the ground to measure water quality, find pollution and correct problems. To jumpstart these efforts, Gov. Gregoire is granting $40,000 from the Governor�s Emergency Fund for Mason County to begin septic surveys next month.


• Help homeowners and businesses fix failing septic systems. Her budget will direct the Department of Ecology to give priority for at least $1 million for low interest loans to help homeowners and business fix failing systems. It also provides $150,000 to continue work to field test new septic system technologies.


• Keep salmon carcasses out of the Canal: In 2004, work began with the Skokomish Tribe to find alternatives to dumping chum salmon carcasses in the Canal after the roe was removed. Some three million pounds of fish were kept out of the Canal and instead donated to food banks and used in other ways. She will budget $250,000 to continue to support this work and make it economically self-sustaining by improving markets and uses for the carcasses.


• Manage Animal Waste: Livestock manure is an important contributor to the water quality problems. The Governor�s 2005-2007 budget will provide $560,000 to help the Mason County Conservation District and livestock owners in the Skokomish Valley construct an anaerobic digester to process animal and other organic wastes into high quality compost and produce energy at the same time.


• Complete a storm water plan for Hoodsport and Belfair: She is proposing a $300,000 grant to Mason County to complete a storm water plan for Hoodsport and Belfair to provide concrete recommendations on ways to reduce current and future storm water impacts to Hood Canal.


• Fix State Facilities: She is providing $1 million to design and install new pollution abatement ponds at the Hoodsport hatchery and to construct a new sewer system for Dosewallips State Park.


• Continue scientific investigation of Hood Canal: She is directing the Puget Sound Action Team to continue to work with Rep. Dicks to obtain federal funding for scientific investigations of Hood Canal. So far $1.4 million has been spent on this research.


• Public Education: The governor�s budget also recognized that all citizens play some role in the pollution that plagues Hood Canal and the larger Puget Sound ecosystem. Her budget will include $200,000 to continue work underway with homeowners and canal residents to educate and involve them in a variety of actions to keep nutrients and pollution from entering the canal.

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